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backwardation
When prices for cash delivery in commodity markets are higher than for forward delivery. The opposite of contango.
balance of payments
A statement of a country's net financial transactions with other countries. Current account measures balance of imports and exports and payments and receipts for services such as shipping, banking and tourism. Capital account measures movements of capital (bank deposits, securities, shares, property).
Bank for International Settlements (BIS)
The central bankers' bank based in Basle, Switzerland.
bankruptcy
Insolvency procedure for individuals.
base rate
Annual interest rate on which lending charges are calculated by British banks.
basis point
Usually one hundredth of a percentage point (0.01 per cent), used in quoting movements in interest rates or yields on securities.
Basle committee
Committee set up by the Bank for International Settlements and based in Basle. It drew up international capital adequacy standards for banks and was once known as the Cooke Committee, after a former chairman.
bear
An investor who expects share prices to fall and thus likely to sell short. More generally, a pessimist about the market outlook. See also bull
bear market
A period of falling share prices; a pessimistic state of affairs. See also bull market
bearer stocks
Stock not registered in the name of an owner, who can thus remain anonymous. Common on the continent of Europe.
bed and breakfast
Now obsolete overnight UK capital gains tax related manoeuvre intended to establish a tax loss benefit.
Big Bang
Changes in UK stock exchange practices that took place in 1986. They abolished the segregation between brokers and jobbers (securities market makers) and ended the system of fixed commissions.
Big Board
New York Stock Exchange's price display, also used as a synonym for the exchange.
Big Four
In Japan, the largest securities houses: Daiwa, Nikko, Nomura and Yamaichi. In the UK, once the four largest English 'high-street' banks: Barclays, Midland (now HSBC), Lloyds (now Lloyds TSB) and National Westminster (now part of Royal Bank of Scotland); takeovers have made the term obsolete.
Big Five
The big Anglo-American accountancy firms: Arthur Andersen; Deloitte & Touche; Ernst & Young; KPMG; and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Mergers have reduced them from an original Big Eight. Individual country arms of the groups may have slightly different names.
BIS ratio
see capital adequacy
blue chip
A stock considered reliable with regard to dividend income and capital value.
bond
A certificate of debt issued to raise funds. It normally has a fixed rate of interest and is repayable at a fixed date.
bond ratings
Gradings by debt rating agencies such as Standard & Poor's or Moody's Investors Services to classify the investment-worthiness of a company's debt.
bought deal
An arrangement where a broker buys all of a new issue of shares and sells them on to investors at a small premium.
Brady bonds
Brady bonds were first issued by the Mexican government as part of its 1990 debt restructuring and have evolved into a IMF/World Bank-backed scheme for restructuring emerging market sovereign debt by issuing bonds collateralised by US treasury bonds. Named for Nicholas Brady, the US Treasury secretary in the early 1990s.
Bretton Woods
The site in New Hampshire of a US-sponsored international conference in 1944 which resulted in the establishment of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
broker recommendations
Stockbrokers' and bank analysts' opinions and forecasts, often called estimates, of future company performance translated into buy-sell-hold advice for investors.
Brown Book
The Brown Book’s official title is Development of the Oil and Gas Resources of the United Kingdom; an annual report.
budget deficit
Usually the gap between government spending and revenue and thus the amount that needs to be borrowed. Definition varies between countries. See also public sector borrowing requirement
building society
Mutually-owned UK savings institution that specialises in loans for house purchase.
bull
An investor who expects share prices to rise. See also bear
bull market
A period of rising share prices; an optimistic state of affairs. See also bear market
Bundesbank
The German central bank.
buy-out/in
see management buy-out/in
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